2:00 PM, Friday the 25th at WB #207

(Please note that, rather than pre-circulating the paper, Roni will present his work in full on Friday)

The demystification of literature leads Calvino to reconsider its potential, its role as a major tool of the human being, because in fact it should be considered as a tool like others in his possession. The literature is one of those “re-representative” techniques (to borrow a term from Daniel Dennett) that intervene effectively on the perception of man. The peculiarity of Calvino’s prose consists in not hiding at all the nature of literature as a model of the possible models. Literature is the means by which man “experiences” the possibilities of the world, or, in other words, is the means by which the world and its possibilities reach the man. Calvino’s singular effort is to be found especially in this multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary representation of a world to be considered far and wide, in micro and macro, in the history and in the possibilities. Two, three are the new major coordinates that Calvino by means of a project was willing to give to his literary discourse, as is clear from the various interventions: a cosmic speech in which to keep in mind the fate of the species accompanied by a detailed map to describe the labyrinthine context that the man happened to live in. How to transform this vertiginous content in literature on one side and through it to investigate the human condition on the other, this is the extreme ambition that, according to “Six memos…” by Calvino, only writers can and should have. This view of literature is peculiar to Italy and to the West after the fifties. We have, on the one hand, a real explosion of knowledge of all the fields at the provision as ever before of a cultural elite, and on the other the Italian masses to educate, to whom to provide a new vision of the world, either from the scientific point of view, or from the point of view of a new and unified national consciousness..

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of our faculty sponsors, Ryan Giles and Niall Atkinson, it is my pleasure to invite you all to the next meeting of the Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop.  On Monday May 14 at 5 PM in Rosenwald 405, Gregory Baum, Ph.D Candidate in Comparative Literature, will present and discuss a paper entitled: “Greater Thieves than Caucus: Tracing Fidelity in Thomas Shelton”.

A copy of Greg´s paper can be found here.

This event is co-sponsored by the Renaissance Workshop`.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Best Regards,

Diana Aramburu and James Nemiroff

Graduate Student Coordinators

Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of our faculty sponsors, Ryan Giles and Niall Atkinson, it is my pleasure to invite you all to the next meeting of the Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop.

On Tuesday April 24 at noon in Wieboldt 207, Michel Magnien, Professor of French Literature at the Université de Sorbonne Nouvelle will present and discuss a paper entitled: Montaigne éditeur-effaceur de la Boétie.

This event is co-sponsored with the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.

There is no precirculated paper for this talk.  The talk will be delivered in French while the Q and A will be in English.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Workshop.

Best Regards,

Diana Aramburu and James Nemiroff

Graduate Student Coordinators

Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop

PS: Those requiring assistance to attend this event should contact James Nemiroff at jnemiroff@uchicago.edu.

Dear Colleagues,

Dear Colleagues,

It is with great pleasure that I invite you all to the first meeting of the Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop for spring quarter 2012.

This coming Wednesday, April 11 at noon in Wieboldt 207, Miguel Martínez, Assistant Professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures will present and discuss a paper entitled “Language, Nation and Empire in Early Modern Iberia”.

Katrina Powers, Ph.D Student in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures will serve as the respondent.

A copy of Prof. Martínez´s paper can be found here.

Looking forward to seeing you at the meeting!

Best Regards,

Diana Aramburu and James Nemiroff

Graduate Student Coordinators

Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop

PS: Those requiring assistance to attend this event should contact James Nemiroff at jnemiroff@uchicago.edu.

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to welcome you all to a special session of the Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop this Friday March 16 at 2:00 PM in Wieboldt 207.  We are honored to welcome Poet and winner of the Premio Nacional de Literatura de España  Aquilino Duque, who will be speaking on Góngora and the Generación del 27.

James Nemiroff, Ph.D Student in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures will serve as the respondent.

The talk will be given in Spanish but the question answer period will be conducted in English.

A copy of Prof. Duque´s paper can be found here

A copy of his CV can be found here 

Looking forward to seeing you at the meeting!

Best Regards,

Diana Aramburu and James Nemiroff

Graduate Student Coordinators

The Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop

PS: Anyone requiring assistance to attend this talk should contact James Nemiroff at jnemiroff@uchicago.edu.

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to invite you all to the next meeting of the Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop for the winter quarter.

On Friday February 17 at noon in Wieboldt 207, Jorge Abril-Sánchez (Ph.D Candidate, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, The University of Chicago and Visiting Instructor of Spanish at Wake Forest University) will present and discuss a paper entitled “Spain’s First Renaissance Demonologist, Rodrigo Fernández de Santaella and his Tratado de la inmortalidad del anima (1503).”

You can find a copy of Jorge’s paper here.

People having any questions or concerns or needing assistance should contact Diana Aramburu at diana1@uchicago.edu.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Best Regards,

Diana Aramburu and James Nemiroff

Graduate Student Coordinators

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to invite you all to the next meeting of the Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop for the winter quarter.

On Friday February 3 at noon in Wieboldt 207, Daisy Delogu (Associate Professor of French Literature in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures) will be presenting and discussing a paper entitled: “From douce France to the dame renommée, Metaphors and Allegories of the French Body Politic.”

Rebecca Crisafulli, Ph.D student in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures will act as respondent.

This workshop also counts on the co-sponsorship of the Medieval Studies Workshop.

A copy of Professor Delogu’s paper can be found here.

People having any questions or concerns or needing assistance should contact Diana Aramburu at diana1@uchicago.edu.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Best Regards,

Diana Aramburu and James Nemiroff

Graduate Student Coordinators

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to invite you all to the next meeting of the Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop on WEDNESDAY January 25th in Wieboldt 207 at noon.  Marco Ruffini (Associate Professor of Italian Studies and Adjunct Professor of Art History, Northwestern University) will present and discuss a paper entitled: “Leon Battista Alberti on the Surface.”

Niall Atkinson (Assistant Professor of the Department of Art History) will act as respondent.

A copy of Professor Ruffini’s paper can be found here: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3pd1g732

People having any questions or concerns or needing assistance should contact Diana Aramburu at diana1@uchicago.edu.  We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Best Regards,

Diana Aramburu and James Nemiroff
Graduate Student Coordinators
Western Mediterranean Culture Workshop